In this image from 2015, a red sun is seen over a dinghy overcrowded with Syrian refugees drifting in the Aegean sea between Turkey and Greece after its motor broke down off the Greek island of Kos. The United States has slashed the number of refugees it will admit to the country, with Syrians being the most affected. (photo: CNS/Yannis Behrakis, Reuters)

U.S. has slashed its refugee intake; Syrians are most affected(The Washington Post) Under the Trump administration, the number of refugees allowed into the United States has fallen to its lowest level since the resettlement program began in 1980. And few groups have been as affected as Syrians, who have been fleeing a brutal civil war that has left hundreds of thousands of people dead since it began in 2011…

Pope Francis pays tribute to Jean Vanier(Vatican News) ”I want to express my gratitude for his testimony” Pope Francis told journalists aboard the papal flight from Skopje to Rome, as he recalled Jean Vanier who died on Tuesday. As he prepared for the questions put to him during the usual inflight press conference upon his return from an apostolic visit abroad, the Pope’s priority was to pay his heartfelt tribute to the man whom, he said, was able to read and interpret the Christian gaze on “the mystery of death, of the cross, of suffering”, on “the mystery of those who are discarded by the world…”

Church-run training changes lives for young Indians(UCANews.com) Since September 2017, the Jan Vikas Center also aided unemployed urban youths trapped by circumstances such as drug addiction, unwanted pregnancies and various forms of abuse. With support from the Don Bosco congregation, under its flagship Don Bosco Tech program, the center trains people aged 18 to 35 in computer, electrical, sewing machine, driving, carpentry and other skills…

A cathedral for Russia’s armed forces rises(Radio Free Europe) The Main Cathedral of Russian Armed Forces, set to become Russia’s third-tallest Orthodox cathedral, is rising in a wooded clearing overlooking the highway on the grounds of Patriot Park, a military-themed recreation and expo complex opened by the Defense Ministry in 2016. When it’s unveiled one year from now — on 9 May 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II — it will be the set piece of an ostentatious memorial complex merging Russia’s Orthodox tradition with the most sanctified episode of the country’s past: the Soviet Union’s victory over invading Nazi forces in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War…